Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 18, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 18, 2015 Positive Grid's Bias Desktop (just the power amp stage here below) First off, I'm a recording guitarist. Professionally I was a bassist, so I did not grow up studying guitar amp tubes, speakers, rectifiers, guitar cab types, bias, etc . I did grow up playing with and listening to guys that did. I know what I like and can describe it in fine detail. Amp sims get me close, Guitar Rig being the most mailable to my needs thus far. Until last night after downloading the 79 buck Bias. They tout its ability to swap tube types, control bias, eq into and out of the pre stage, the tone stack stage, the power amp stage. If the lows are soft like you need but just a tad too saggy in its overdrive characteristic, the simple, short, direct and amazingly informative manual will let you know the fix. Want multistage gain a la Gilmour without the one dimensional modern blown out feel and tone? Want a little Fender sparkle peeking through that gainy lead? A little low end thump on your attack while the glass still shines through? Like I did last night trying to get a little Comfortably Numb on a track? A little learning and tube, rectifier, etc. swapping and you'll get there. Dig the distortion but it's just a little fizzy? Leave the pre's tone controls alone and de-emphasize the highs heading into the tone stack. On and on. These aren't just cool graphics with knobs that sort of do something. This really is an amp. Very real. Preset guys might want to pass on this one, but if you know what you're looking for... Presets just never work for me even after edits, since I favor an oddball Yamaha semi hollow body with P90s. They don't make presets with my guitar in mind. But Bias lets me find that perfect amp marriage for it in what's appearing to be any needed context. warning, the online demos favor shred. Not my gig. But this software is. try it! I'm sold. http://www.positivegrid.com/bias-desktop/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UstadKhanAli Posted March 19, 2015 Members Share Posted March 19, 2015 That sounds really useful, and given how good your ear is, I have every confidence that this really does sound good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 21, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 21, 2015 Sounds good, Lee. I haven't heard of this until today. How does this compare to Guitar Rig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 21, 2015 Members Share Posted March 21, 2015 I've been enamoured by Amplitube on my MacBook but was a bit disappointed when I tried it with an iPad so I downloaded Bias and JamUp Pro. I must say that the ability to make the subtle changes alluded to in the OP make this one of the best amp sims for me as well. I've been playing and working on tube amps (mostly Fender) for over forty years and, IMO, Positive Grid has done an excellent job capturing the nuances with this app. I was so impressed with the iPad app that I bought the plugin for Mac version as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 21, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted March 21, 2015 Sounds good' date=' Lee. I haven't heard of this until today. How does this compare to Guitar Rig?[/quote'] When I use a Les Paul or a Strat into Guitar Rig it sounds very good. It still is a little one-dimensional but for a lot of guitar parts it is perfect for a track. The problem arises when I want something very specific. And I tend to do that quite a bit. Bias allows me to contour the girth or thinness and saturation all in the different areas in very specific ways. It's susrain will die out in a very real way. I like that. It responds very realistically to how hard you were hitting the strings. So much so in fact that I used a little bit of limiting in front of it, incidentally I do the same thing with a real amp. The beauty of using a plug-in limiter is that I could then go back and back off if I wanted to and let those transients hit the amp in very interesting and real ways. And then just automate the threshold down smoothly to really slam the amp for heavier bits. Guitar Rig doesn't have that same sort of complexity. Having variables inside the amp is new to me and I've got to say that it is very rewarding when shooting for a specific sort of tone and vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nat whilk II Posted March 22, 2015 Members Share Posted March 22, 2015 I have a friend who builds amps as a hobby - I would think this software, since it lets you mix and match all sorts of well-known components and tweak the signal path - would be a great tool for amp builders - for pre-testing amp designs before getting to the actual outlay on physical components. nat whilk ii Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 27, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2015 Bias actually has pretty good responsiveness and a full and nicely saturated sound. I've been trying out the demo for the last couple of days. I might make the switch over to Bias from Guitar Rig (I'm using quite an old version too). Lee, does Bias have anything for bass guitar? I saw a preset called "American Bass" but I'm not sure if its meant for bass guitar.If not then are there any bass guitar specific plug-ins worth mentioning / groundbreaking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 27, 2015 Members Share Posted March 27, 2015 Bias does have a section of bass amplifiers. I normally record bass with an active DI (SansAmp) so I can't comment on how well Bias works with bass but I certainly do like it for guitar. Does the demo not give you the opportunity to try the bass amps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 27, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2015 I don't see a category for bass amps. Maybe the full version will have it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 27, 2015 Members Share Posted March 27, 2015 Are you using the plugin version or the iPad app? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 27, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2015 I don't see a category for bass amps. Maybe the full version will have it? American Bass is a vintage Bassman for guitar. Apparently there is plenty of bass circuitry to play with, GK, SVT ,etc. however, I've only so far used the demo due to being lost in a mix project. And the demo does not seem to offer the bass modules. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 27, 2015 Author Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2015 Are you using the plugin version or the iPad app? I'm using the demo of "Desktop" which is the Mac/PC computer plugin version. I did use the demo as a 'print to audio' plugin to get around the demo limitations of audio cutting in and out. And I will buy as soon as I "need" it. Soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 27, 2015 Members Share Posted March 27, 2015 I first used Bias on the iPad and discovered that, on that platform, I preferred it to Amplitube which I had been quite happy with on the MacBook. When a deal was offered on the plugin version of Bias I simply bought the Desktop version without trying the demo. There are bass modules in the Desktop version so I will check them out for bass and present my findings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators davie Posted March 27, 2015 Moderators Share Posted March 27, 2015 I first used Bias on the iPad and discovered that, on that platform, I preferred it to Amplitube which I had been quite happy with on the MacBook. When a deal was offered on the plugin version of Bias I simply bought the Desktop version without trying the demo. There are bass modules in the Desktop version so I will check them out for bass and present my findings. Right now its $74 for the Bias Desktop plug-in. How much did you get yours for? How much was the discount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 28, 2015 Members Share Posted March 28, 2015 It was the sale between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I believe the price was $74 at that time too - it was definitely under $100. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Wein Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I'm very happy with Bias...I'm actually using it on an email session later today and the engineer on the other end can dial in the sound however he wants. Its the first modeler I actually have no problem giving up my amps for on work like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted March 28, 2015 Members Share Posted March 28, 2015 If anyone's compared it with Scuffham S-Gear, I'd like to hear it. I got S-Gear because it was inexpensive (similar to Bias). My use is casual and infrequent, but I like S-Gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 29, 2015 Members Share Posted March 29, 2015 If anyone's compared it with Scuffham S-Gear' date=' I'd like to hear it. I got S-Gear because it was inexpensive (similar to Bias). My use is casual and infrequent, but I like S-Gear.[/quote'] I haven't tried S-Gear but I do know of it and it looks like a very good product. The thing about Bias is the ability to tweak the 'insides' of the amplifier. Changing tubes in a physical amplifier is the easiest way to modify the tone. Bias, through physical modelling, allows you to change the preamp tube from 12AX7 to a 12AT7 or swap out a set of 6V6s for EL84s etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted March 29, 2015 Members Share Posted March 29, 2015 Yeah, that sounds interesting and I appreciate the tip. In any case, I suspect it's speaker modeling where most sims really fall down. Don't get me wrong: they're way better than nothing. But they're done using convolutions, which are great (theoretically perfect) at modeling linear systems, and speakers aren't linear, especially when they're pushed. Nothing sounds quite like a good tube amp, but (a) they keep getting better, and (b) they sound better recorded than what I can manage with an amp and mic at home, without doing a lot of stuff to my home that I'm not going to do. Plus they're great when people are sleeping! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 29, 2015 Members Share Posted March 29, 2015 I think it's a bit like the digital piano thing. A properly miced grand piano in a good room is going to sound better and have more dynamics than an electronic version but how many of us have access to that? In many cases, however, it's quicker and easier to use a sampled version of the same grand piano than it is to source the piano, find a room to put it in and get the high quality microphones to record it. On another note (so to speak) when recording artists such as The Beatles used an acoustic piano they would quite often process the sound so that it did not sound like a piano. One we started using electronic pianos we tried very hard to make them sound acoustic. All that being said, I purchased a Yamaha CP5 Stage Piano a couple of years ago and I must say, it's the closest I have found to the 'real thing' from the perspective of putting my fingers on the keys and the sound I'm able to get for recordings. It's also very good in live situations and all the touring players I have provided it for seem quite pleased with it. For me, the measure of a good musical instrument (including guitar amplifiers) is how much the encourage and contribute to an expressive musical experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted March 30, 2015 Members Share Posted March 30, 2015 Thankfully, my Blues Jr was a lot less than a 9 foot Bösendorfer. I can't always tell a sim from an amp in recordings by others because, among other things, so many people favor such flat, unimaginative, lifeless, fuzzed out guitar settings. But, so far, I've yet to play a sim that gives me the kind of responsiveness to technique that derives from the highly dynamic impedance relationship between my single coil pickups and the front end of my quirky, highly imperfect Fender amp. (Is there any other kind of Fender amp? I haven't played them all.) For the record, I have Guitar Rig 3 (not LE) and a Pod XT (the latter belongs to a buddy who parked it here some years ago). I also spent a couple hours a long time ago with the original SansAmp, trying to see if I could find any way of making it work for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted March 31, 2015 Members Share Posted March 31, 2015 The Yamaha DG Series amps were quite good - and maintenance free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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